Monday, November 08, 2010

Insult Obama?

The blog Emes ve-Emunah has noted that within the ultra-orthodox Jewish community it’s become normal to insult U.S. President Barak Obama. He asks how can it be appropriate to insult the holder of a high office? He says, “I can’t help but suspect that there is an element of racism here. I sense it… and if true it’s disgusting and a Chilul HaShem. Constantly bashing him in such vitriolic terms - even if it isn't becuase of racism borders on Chilul HaShem. And it ought to stop!”

Obama is free as president to create whatever prioritize and international directions he feels appropriate for his view of America. That's his right and role as president. And he's free to do so even if everyone disagrees with him...for 4 years at least.

But, as a Jew in Israel I can say that his policies have directly empowered our enemies, caused direct damage to thousands of Jewish families throughout the Shomron, Yehuda, and greater Jerusalem areas. Yeshivas have failed to be built, shuls have stopped being built, even building a sun cover over your patio is stopped...because of US foreign policy and pressure.

Israel is politically weakened, the UN, the Arab League, and Hamas politically empowered due to the actions of the US administration. And this directly translates into violent actions against Jews and Israelis.

Obama has dissed the Jewish community and empowered Muslim communities in America. He's also empowered a lot of other "quiet" policies that seem aimed at hurting Jews and Israel in various ways. Example - 400 IRS agents arrived in Israel to begin conducting mass audits of American Israeli tax returns. One result of this is Bank Leumi in Israel is requiring all American Israeli customers to certify and prove they're filing their US taxes, and Bank HaPoalim (that's 2 of the 3 largest Israeli banks) is considering not accepting ANY American Israeli customers. (as if they don't guarantee all their American customers aren't hiding any money they'll be restricted from doing financial transfers into and out of the US).

Similarly such financial research missions were moved in America from focusing on terrorist supports and transfers to Pakistan and overseas terrorist organizations to Jewish charitable organizations that were educating poor Torah students in New York and in Israel. While rabbis and rebbes shouldn’t be violating money transfer and money laundering laws, there’s a significant difference in moving money to a yeshiva in Brooklyn and Jerusalem versus moving the money to an Al Qaeda terrorist training base in Waziristan, Pakistan.

In the past two years we’ve seen a number of Jewish charity raising figures being led to prison, but suddenly the imans, sheiks, as well as Egyptian, Pakistani, and Palestinian banks don’t seem to be having any such problems. Nor are they asking to certify their American-origin customers as the banks in Israel are. (Granted the US also went after the banks in Switzerland, that was a straight matter of government fund raising.)

The President may be trying to rebalance what he's seen as an overly favorable relationship to an even handed relationship. That's his right in is role as president. And it's also his role to pressure any foreign power any way he wants. It's not illegal or immoral.

But it's directly hurting many Jews and directly putting Jewish and Israeli lives at risk. And when the president is directing government steps and policy changes that are directly hurting many Jews, it's no surprise that he would become a target of insults by the community.

Hurting the Jews has never paid positive dividends for ANY country...always quite the opposite. Further, hurting the Jews has ALWAYS hurt the economy of the acting country – an even more stupid thing to do given current US economic conditions.

The hearts of kings are in the hand of Hashem. There is no question that these troubling times and the troubling actions of Obama are part of the Divine plan and will be for the best. But while we give thanks and praise to Hashem, Obama doesn’t get our praise for volunteering to be the stick.

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comments:

Not giving him your praise is not at all the same as bashing him without end. That is just lame. AS is the persistent orthodox habit (of all creeds)of "magically transforming" plain bad behaviour into some sort of "good deed". Are your banks and your patios really that important to you?? Usually, I like this blog, but this really is lame. I'm disappointed.

You know what's ironic? That heathens like Obama or Bush in the orthodox mind do not have such a thing as free will at all, them being no more than puppets hanging from the divine strings - except when those puppets do something the fundamnetalist doesn't like. Then, suddenly, the heathens *volunteer*....

Obama is an evil man. He has no idea of what is the anatomy of evil as any Bnai Noach is required to have. Maybe it is HaShem's will that he be in power at this particular time to create Palestine and to divide Jerusalem. But he is still a very evil man. We can recognize that fact and adjust what we need to do in response to his evil behaviour.

There I have not mentioned the fact that he is black. But so is Alan Keyes, and he is a very good man. What does race have to do with Obama being evil?

It is not a waste of energy to call someone who is evil evil. If we close our eyes to what he has already done, we will not be prepared for what he is going to do next.

Take a look at who his friends are. Look at who supported the Gaza flotilla. The group behind the Gaza flotilla that engaged in deadly clashes with Israeli commandoes on May 31st counts among its top activists Weather Underground terrorist founders William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn as well as Jodie Evans, the leader of the radical activist organization Code Pink.Ayers and Dohrn were close associates for years with President Obama and fundraisers for his state senate campaigns, while Evans was a fundraiser and financial bundler for Obama’s presidential campaign.

His supporters also include Louis Farrakhan and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In short he has murderers and Jew-haters who are amongst his closest friends and supporters. Yet, Bill Ayers will never see the inside of a prison cell, and Bernadine Dohrn has served her measly seven months.

What matters more is that your President in America has no problem associating with people who murder innocents for their political causes. And he has no problem associating with Jew-haters. They are all one and the same to him, allies for his efforts to remove the oppression from the world's 1.2 billion Muslims. Yet, in the President's mind those who murder innocents for this cause are allies. In short he has a problem supporting Noachide Laws against murder in all circumstances where it is murder, and for establishing courts to put these murderers away forever. Halakhically he is an evil man.

He will yet do great harm to America internally and to Israel, the object of his obsessions. Yes, it is G-d's will, but we must call Obama what he is, EVIL. To be silent in the face of evil is to condemn yourself to its objectives.

Thank you Akiva for posting this. It is a typical technique of liberals to call you racist if you bash Obama. He is a truly evil, Jew-hating Muslim. Sorry, but it's a fact. The really astonishing thing is that so many Jews like a man who so obviously disdains them. Yes, Hashem is "educating" us b'rachamim. We best listen up.

HaShem would not need a stick if we listened. Since we won't, the stick is going to be swung hard at us. Just like the 'invented' people where sent as a message to us. But as usual, we are going the hard route. We have nothing to complain about, but look in the mirror and realize it's us that caused it. Harsh words, yes, but why won't we wake up and certainly don't want the explaination why it's happening.